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SEB Puts Bankia’s IT Center Up on the Market

3/12/2014 – Expansion

Scandinavian SEB Asset Management has decided to take an advantage of Spain being currently the hottest market in Europe. Four years ago, SEB InmoPortfolio Target Return Fund bought an office building in Las Rozas, Madrid, from Caja Madrid (now Bankia) for €108 million. Presently, the entity employs the space for its information technology center and will stay in there as a tenant for the next 26 years.

SEB is asking €110 million for the unit housing such a solid, long-term lessee.

Facilities

Built in the 90s, the building won Spain’s Architecture Award. Noteworthy is the security system but the total area of 43.700 square meters, as well as 530 parking spaces are no small perks either.

The German branch of the Swedish group put the unit up for sale only few days ago and it has already called attention of such large funds eyeing the Spanish market as London & Regional, a fund which bought Vodafone’s Madrid headquarters from Banco Sabadell for €117 million back in March.

Bankia has got the right of first offer as a tenant but odds are low the entity will excecute it. Just yesterday, the bank announced conveyance of 38 properties including blocks of apartments, retail units and logistic warehouses to Goldman Sachs for €355 million.

The sale of the Las Rozas premises is just an example of deals sealed lately by vendors seeking high returns.

For instance, Orion is selling the Plenilunio shopping mall in Madrid for €400 million, while in 2009 it paid €235 million for the unit to Banif.

So is the case of the 32 Gran Vía (street) unit, bought in 2008 together with other office buildings by Spanish manager Drago Capital from Prisa. Not long ago, this single property was listed at €350 million. Deka’s offer outstands in the sale process.

Institutional funds currently lead in the real estate purchases in Spain, while the forerunners until the beginning of 2014 were the vulture funds. Thus, in 2013, they made 43 per cent of all investors, whereas this year a mere 10 per cent, Deloitte Real Estate reports.

Year-to-date, more than €5.3 billion were spent on non-residential assets, the same source informs. Of the figure, an amount of €2.1 billion was intended for office buildings. Madrid premises of IBM make a good example as the unit was sold to Mexican family office Finaccess which offered €130 million to the property’s owner, Morgan Stanley.

 

Original article: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE